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Sunday, December 30, 2012

Trying to get some things off the sewing counter - things are piling up into a mountain, and I want to start 2013 off fresh. Something I aspire to on a monthly basis, I think. No resolutions here, I know my sewing-self and I often put too much on my sewing counter, but love every minute of it. Sometimes I actually accomplish having it cleaned off, and I take photos on those days.

Today I finished a block for the Quilt Around the World II group. I have 3 more packages to work through, and they only get done one at a time.

These are some of her blocks - I didn't have much room on the design wall to get all of the blocks up.

They are pretty sherbet / gelato colors.

I also finished my start for a new group Traveling Quilts - similar to a round robin, but you don't have to go 'round' the quilt top you are working on. I went with a rustic improv piece. I look forward to working on the groups projects and seeing where my starter piece travels.

The piece measures 29" X 16", I took photos vertical and horizontal, I'm not sure which way it will end up.

I made a few postage stamp blocks too, but I didn't get their photos before night fall.

Saturday, December 29, 2012

Months and months ago I was asked to make a quilt that highlighted sunflower fabrics.

Just all different sunflowers, and also maybe something in a traditional layout.

The traditional part threw me.

So I started out with this. Trying to follow directions.

Four patches and squares. While this isn't the most hideous thing, I was truly not feeling it. So it stayed up on the board for awhile and then was put away. This layout was going nowhere.

My guilt was eating at me, and still trying to go a traditional route, I made a second attempt and was leaning toward this. Sometimes I hate directions.

Also, not hideous, but also not feeling it.

So now I have tons of fabric cut and pieced, and no idea where I am going to go with this quilt. So everything is put away and while in the back of my mind for months, I felt nothing happening.

And of course, when I have no time, inspiration knocks me flat.

Two weeks before Christmas in the midst of all the holiday happenings, I have to make this quilt. Because, you know, I had absolutely nothing going on. I chose to veer away from actual sunflower prints and went with the colors that would remind you of sunflowers - or at least they remind me.

With darker bolder prints for the contrast, with some sunflower prints in there. Although, I have to feel right making this I tried to remember that it would belong to someone else and she adored sunflowers.

I had bought this large panel (two actually, which was good because I needed the second to make the layout work) to use in some form in this quilt - so I sliced it up.

That was not an easy decision, once sliced there is no going back.

And once more while in the middle of all this - inspiration has to knock me flat, and I spend all of a Saturday night holed up with a bottle of wine and my sewing machine, iron and design wall. Sometimes all of those are my best friends.

Finito. This is quilted now and in its new home. I love the modern feel of this quilt, and while her husband had asked for traditional, he is a traditional guy, she is not and I believe this suited her much more than what I started out with. She is going to let me have it back next week to get photos of the quilting. She was surprised and happy - and I was so happy to have this done and off my guilt list, as opposed to my regular list.

And because I am following along with the Value Added group on Flickr - I changed one of the photos to black and white to get a good look at the color values. The main sunflower really stands out, which I wanted, some of the other pieces, that I considered darker in the quilt seem to be more medium, but in the whole scheme I think they work.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday week - I know I am, getting to know and cuddle with a bright new shiny baby boy. But since he lives with his mamma and papa I can still take time to quilt!

There is still time to join in the Postage Stamp Block Swap , USA shipping isn't until Jan 10, and these blocks are quick and easy. I love them for sewing when you need to wind down from a technical project or just want to sew but don't want to get involved in anything big.

Saturday, December 15, 2012

(Obviously, my daughter in law is having the baby, but my son, like many men, thinks he is participating HAHAHA)

If you didn't read my previous post about upcycling a baby quilt of my son's into a new quilt for his son, this is a photo of the old quilt (left) and the new (right).

The original quilt was hand pieced and tied. I tried to keep the color value and style of the original while adding a bit of modern and making everything a bit stronger so it will last another generation. I quilted a grid, I didn't want anything fancy, as the old quilt was only tied.

I backed with flannel for extra snuggly goodness.

The binding is an older Kaffe Fassett print, I liked the brightness of this print holding everything together.

Now, we just need a new baby to snuggle in this quilt, and we'll be all set.

Calvin is due Christmas Day, and I can't think of a better way to end this month, a bit of life, a bit of hope, a bit of renewal.

If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant; if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome. ~ Anne Bradstreet

Sunday, December 9, 2012

I hesitate to use the word 'upcycle' in this way, as the quilt I 'upcycled' wasn't useless or destroyed, until I destroyed it. Maybe 'recycled' is a more appropriate term. Either way - I took and old quilt and made it new.

This quilt was made for my son by a 15 year old neighbor girl. She gave it to him on his first birthday in 1985, and said she had worked on it for a year. Quite an accomplishment for a 15 year old.

My intent was to repair this quilt and give it to my son's baby. The quilt has a variety of materials used from sheets to velvet. It has been well loved. On closer inspection of the quilt I saw that the repairing was going to be too extensive.

She had mostly hand pieced the squares, and tied the quilt together. Some fabrics were thread bare and there were rips in the back.

I decided instead to carefully deconstruct the quilt and use some of the old pieces with a combination of new ones to make a new quilt. The deconstruction was nights sitting on the sofa carefully seam ripping, cutting, and picking.

I chose a palette of new fabrics that I thought complimented the original quilt - I wanted to keep the integrity of the original in tact and the color composition similar.

I ended up pulling the owl print shown. I cut squares 3 1/2" (but not before cutting a whole quilts worth 3" ),

after measuring squares in the original and deciding to cut them down after picking them out to match the 6 1/2" blocks made with these new squares.

I made 4 patches with the new fabrics and trimmed up 4 patches from the original.

Then I cut a bunch the 3 1/2" size I needed, but I was running out of some of the fabrics I had already cut into 3" squares.

And while working on THAT quilt - not ready for it's photo show yet - I couldn't stop thinking about the little 3" squares, all stacked up, rejected, no home, waiting for the scrap pile.

I came up with a quick plan for another baby quilt using the 3" squares made into 4 patches, and adding some animal prints in alternate blocks (and a few solids)

It's not quilted, yet - just a topper - but a cutie!

Four patches are amazing! The little bunny print is from Spoonflower, the elephant print is a Dear Stella, and I don't know what the Owl print is, it was in a fat quarter pack, no selvage. Little animals just scream baby quilt.

Oddly, I got all the chevrons to go in the same direction. I will add a border to make it just a little bit bigger.

About Me

Welcome - I live and quilt in Virginia Beach. I live here with family, friends, pets (dogs, cat, bunnies). I have an addiction to fabric, looking at it, buying it, hoarding it, and I love cutting it up and putting it together a new way! I like to work with modern fabrics and patterns, but I still fall back on old favorites. I work full time between two businesses, our own construction company, and another; and in between those hours I find time to feed my addiction. Welcome, let's get to know each other.